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Drinkers i By JOHN KOZMA ic Gamecock Staff Writer n This is the last of a three-part series. t\ Average beer drinkers can ri detect flavor differences between S some beers, but are seldom able to b identify their favorite brand from a p group of unlabeled samples, based b on a test by The Gamecock. b With the help of the Golden Spur, The Gamecock administered a Ii taste test to eight USC students. fi The students were first asked to n rate nine popular brands- oi Budweiser, Michelob, Schlitz, Pabst, Heineken, Miller, Miller fl Lite, Schlitz Malt Liquor and U domestic Lowenbrau-according to si their taste preferences. Given a small sample of each, n the participants were then asked to n We invite you to visit The ] Grey stone Blvd.) YOUR HOSTS HAROLD & F YOU TO DINE AT THE . . 0le. LUNCH DINNER BA1 CHOICE STEAKS SEA! Lunch - 11:30-2:30 Mon.-Fri. Dinner 5:30-11:00 Mon. 304 GREYSTONE I I -Your S? DeoreeI In VIS Reps here: Octol Interviews: PLAC Irifn Rr\f\th _ lotta |,,,,v ?wvr... Sul Placement me OHice $? Call Placement or sin 1 AAA A 4 ? J ? ? ? i-ouu-i4i-46i2i rea (toll free) Especially needed: seniors/grads in t flrrhitftPtnrft A nlan IVIIV<>I*vwisiiw |^ivti i construction, edu jnabletc lentify each sample by brand ame. ONE PARTICIPANT identified vo samples correctly, five were ight once, and two missed all nine, statistically, similar results might e reasonably expected if the articipants never tasted the beer, ut simply guessed what the rands were. Tom Schmidt of Arthur D. Little ic., a Massachusetts consulting rm, pointed out factors which lay have caused the low number f correct answers. Schmidt, a member of the firm's avor sciences unit, said their jsters sample no more than three imilar brands at one sitting. "Tasting is difficult even under lore controlled conditions," Schlidt said. "With nine brands, the Ftiverbanks Zoo (1-26 & RED TAYLOR INVITE ne rtaurant VQUETS LOUNGE FOOD # SALAD BAR CLOSED SUNDAYS *LVD. 252-5175 [ill and I Count I TA. I ber 6, 7 I 'CAACMT AEEirc I bavik.il i vrrivci jits: Insistence alwnc dical care 'Ings account cere friendships I experience i / ; '1 liberal arts, ninn hi icin^ce cation, health |] social work. | > detect f c I taste buds get confused." MORE STRIKING than the i incorrect brand identification in the test was the disparity of comments about each brand. Two students who correctly identified Budweiser thought it had a "sharp, full flavor" and "higher carhnnotinn '' :* RA/IBUV1UII. UUIIICV1IC tdllt'U 11 Pabst and said it "tastes terrible", while still another claimed it was Miller and said it was "bitter". Miller Lite, which nnnp nf th** participants got right, drew the greatest variety of comments. One student thought it was Michelob and credited it with a "smooth, fine taste," while another said it was Budweiser--,4heavy, not very good". TO INSURE consistent results in _ flavor testing, Schmidt said tasting I should be done in an odor free room I with carefully cleaned glassware. | Kvpn linHpr 1pm than iHoal enn. ditions, though, a discerning beer drinker should be able to pick out the two or three brands he drinks most often without even tasting them, simply by the aroma, he said. Only one of our tasters was able to identify a brand which he drinks often. Two people with a favorite brand not only couldn't recognize it, but made negative comments 1 T -A - 1 * -vV' i. r Aix I/tax ira "Oft BLUE" 2. "JOY OF QB LETTING GO" rlPPki i. u/ino/nm BROADCAST" I 2. "ALL ABOUT /jt} SEX" f/\ I Frances! 2009 Bel (next to Every week Cok has a new Di Try a real del for a channe C? ~ Quality cold cut! 6 ft. $ubs (dorm or Ci AAon.-Fri. otn at 9 9 Miller $1 I\ ivorite bri about it. And Pabst, which drew com ments before the samples were brought out like ."cheap beer","nc quality", and "miserable", fooled everyone. After tasting the unlabeled samples, the same people thought it was "smooth", "OK", and had a "light taste". Schmidt said the plastic cups used in the test may have had some effect, as they tend to suppress the beer's flavor. "Plastic cups have a tendency to cut down on the volatile aromatics," he said. TUF. POSSIRII ITV that tho was affected by one or more delinquent bottles of beer, said Schmidt, is minimal. "Brewers do a remarkably good job of main taining uniform flavor quality," he said. With modern bottling equipment, he said, maybe one in a hundred bottles will have a straw like flavor or take on a reddish tinge due to oxidation. iu:? i - OV.UI111UI sctiu nub uappens wnen one of the dip sticks, which control the level the bottle is to be filled, gets out of adjustment. If too mucli air stays in the bottle, oxidation will spoil the beer, he said. So if the bottling machine fills a hundred bottles at a time, every hundredth bottle might be bad. Ideally, Schmidt said, beer should be stored between 42 and 45 degrees and kept in constant contact with carbon dioxide. This is especially true for draught beer, he said, which is unpasteurized. Because it can lose this contact, a keg which is emptied with a hand pump msieaa 01 pressurized earbon dioxide bottles, can get flat and take on a cardboard-like taste or a reddish tinge overnight, ever if kept on ice, Schmidt said. YEARS OF testing and sur veying by the flavor sciences unit show that about a third of all beer | mmiicis ciumoi ueieci navor to's Deli Mine Blvd. Sambos) imbia nmiMMl 1 eli! * Sandwiches - Catering eeh parties) .$5 6/pfe. s9a,8 nnHMHHMnnvm nnds differences, another third can detect differences but consider other factors when buying, while ? the other one in three buys strictly on the basis of taste. Schmidt said he did not know exactly what proportion of beer drinkers can make brand distinctions on taste alone under proper conditions, but guessed that it is probably close to one-third. "People don't generally pay attention to what they put in their ( mouths," he said. The drinking habits of USC students at the Golden Spur provide ample proof of this point. , -i..J ? - " ??mic muni siuuems, according 10 I our survey, prefer bottles to draught beer because they said it tastes less "watered down", the Spur sells almost a hundred kegs of ; draught per week-three times the i ciiiiuuni oi pacKagea neer, according to manager Jake Williams, i What's on tap is cheaper, of course, but quite often, Williams i said, the guy ordering doesn't care I what brand it is. He'll just say "Light draught." Then the bari tender chooses, Williams said. i i Decorations grow easily B> DKIIIIIK SI1KIMIKHI) ' ( aiiM'itK'k Staff Writer ror students searching for decorations to beautify their rooms, several stores within ' walking distance of I'SC carry a variety of plants which can be ? grown easily in a dormitory. 1 Roger Patton. a salesman from the Blossom Shop in Five Points, said Spa thiphy Hums and Chlorophytums plants can grow well in minimum light Draeaneas plants andChinese evergreens also grow well in minimum light ij WATERING l>K.PK\l?S 11.1 lh.? individual plant, hut each of the plants should bo watered at least nee a week. Fat ton said Small plants at the Blossom Shop sell from S3 and larger plants start .it about $10. "Cacti are also popular dorm plants." Pat ton said. "CV.eti require bright sunlight and they should be watered about every three weeks." Dieffenbacluas. which have stout stems, and prayer plants are fairly easy to grow. "TIIKSK IM..WTS." said (Jinny McMillan, salesgirl al Ei son's on Main St.. "should bo kept close to window, although they do not need direct sunlight Plant:; tl?;it n.i lot of light will grow with less light hut they do not look as pretty," she said. 1 McMillan said that since dorms have a low humidity level, plants needing a great deal of moisture can he misted or set above pebbled I tii niiuiii im'R.s in a uai pan 01 , water.